One of the challenges facing many businesses is to obtain public exposure of its products and/or services. To this end, businesses have used all forms of advertisements to ensure that the public is familiar with their name or product. Due to the overall popularity of sports, it is common to find advertisements associated with sporting events.
Examples of popular sports include hockey, soccer, tennis, football among others. These sports are well known in many countries and the games are often enjoyed at both a professional and at a recreational level. In the case of most public sporting events, companies have long recognized the benefit of locating advertisements directly in the viewing area to increase public exposure of the company's name or product. Commercial signage incorporated in the viewing area and/or the playing surface of the event also provides a sponsor effective exposure during any televised coverage of the event along with any clips or photographs of the event used in electronic or print media.
Presently, the dasher boards surrounding a playing area or track, the score board, the finishing line and the playing field itself, are several examples of common areas used to display advertisements. Prices for advertising in/on these spaces vary according to the likelihood of their exposure on television or in pictures. As such, the space located at key areas tends to command the highest prices.
However, there are several notable shortcomings associated with the use of the above mentioned areas for advertisements. The first is that they are often obscured or cropped out in most media photographs since photographers tend to focus primarily on the players. Secondly, given that advertisers do not have access to the same advertising opportunities normally found with professional leagues in recreational sporting venues, advertisers must find other means to promote their products when working outside a professional sports setting.
Given the importance of a substantial advertising inventory as a source of revenue for professional sports teams and event organizers, and the need to effectively capture the viewing public's attention there is always a need to develop new advertising possibilities. Since netting material is extensively used in numerous events for various purposes, it is often captured in scenes seen on television or in photographs. Therefore, it would be desirous if one could use the prominent viewing position of this netting material as an advertising tool. Furthermore, advertising revenues for sport organizations and event organizers are often limited by the availability of useable space, thus it would also be beneficial if both sides of the netting material could be used for advertising purposes where it is feasible. Examples of where both sides of the net are visible to the audience include the sport of tennis and volleyball. Contrary to having signage suspended from a fence or a net, applying images directly onto a net will also not block the view of onlookers.
Environmental factors such as the rain and wind also are factors that may prove detrimental to the usage of signs at outdoor events. Thus, images applied directly to the netting could be an effective advertising tool; this effect could be rendered even more interesting due to the kinetic optical effect created when the netting moves.
In addition to advertising purposes, the present invention would also be useful for applying images onto nets for aesthetic reasons. Examples of this use may be found at playgrounds, amusement parks, and zoos.
Methods currently available to apply various types of designs onto mesh are known in the art. For example, a method for applying a colouring medium to only one side of a mesh screen is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,803. This patent, however, is limited to the application of regular commercial paints or inks with a compressed air gun onto a mesh consisting of thin solid filaments. A printing screen is positioned adjacent to the mesh materials, and the colouring medium is applied on the areas of the mesh which are exposed through the printing screen by spraying paint or ink. In this method, paint or ink is forced through the printing screen in a way that a detailed design is created on only one side of the mesh material. The method of this patent is directed largely towards insect or porch screens and the claims delineate the criteria of the printing screen (i.e., mesh count) and the air pressure of the spray gun. There are many reasons, however, why the method of this patent would not work to provide a durable design that could withstand the wear and tear that a net, such as a hockey or soccer net, regularly receives during a sports game.
The method of U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,803 is directed towards applying an image to mesh materials such as insect or porch screen, woven cloth, burlap, perforated plastic sheets and the like and thus is not appropriate for application to multi-filamentous mesh or nets such as those used in sporting events. Multi-filamentous mesh or nets pose a different set of problems due to the porous characteristic of the twine or rope used, and the requirement for the colour to withstand weathering and high force impacts.
As such, a need remains to overcome the difficulty which lies in the application of an effective colouring means to multi-filamentous nets or mesh of this nature.
To date, traditional compositions of a colouring means used on netting, mesh or the like has been unsuccessful due to their damaging effect on the strength of the fibres, and their inability to resist cracking, flaking or peeling under normal use as well as under extreme conditions.
It is important that any logo or image applied to a netting or mesh does not diffuse through the twine for several reasons. First, by restricting the image to one side of the netting or mesh, it will prevent the inversion of unidirectional logos. This would permit the full exploitation of the netting or mesh for advertising purposes since logos may be applied to both sides of the netting in situations where they are visible to the public.
Second, it is also necessary to have the image restricted to one side of the net or mesh to comply with sporting regulations that prohibit interfering with a judging official's clear view of a net as in the case of ice hockey. The colouring must be applied in such a manner so as to assure that only a small area of the twine is coloured while still providing full visual impact from the front. This would also minimize the image from being seen from the side when the net is moving.
Currently, traditional methods have proven unsuccessful in this regard given the absorptive nature of multi-filamentous twine normally used in most mesh or netting material.
Due to the above mentioned problems, mesh or netting material used for may public events have remained plain and devoid of any visual enhancement. There is, therefore, a need for a compound that will not compromise the integrity of the fibres nor cause the colours to diffuse uncontrollably. The colour must stay durable on the net even under harsh usage and environmental conditions. This would allow for the possibility of fully exploiting the net as a means of advertisement or decoration.
There is also a need for a method to apply the colouring means onto multi-filamentous nets that will result in consistently sharp and clear images that will be visible only from one side of the net even when it is moving. Finally, the method should be affordable and simple enough for an individual to perform with any size of netting.